Roivant and Pfizer launched Priovant to develop the oral drug brepocitinib for dermatomyositis, lupus and other autoimmune diseases, but Roivant also cut programs to extend its cash runway.

The market for new company creation in the biopharma sector remains healthy and poised to continue fostering the establishment of start-ups, based on a new In Vivo study of the strong initial investments that pharma and biotech companies receive.

Private Company Edition: The pre-J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference financing news deluge during the first week of 2021 included several significant venture capital deals, including a $226m series B round for Affinivax, Ikena’s $120m series B round and an $88m series A round for Aro.

A review of biopharma start-up dealmaking and financing activity from October through December 2019, based on data from Strategic Transactions, showed a large rise in fundraising transactions from Q3 to Q4 of last year.